FREDERICKSBURG, VA — In a battle for the number one seed in the American Division and a Thursday bye on the line, Greater Lynn Babe Ruth lost its first game of the 2022 Babe Ruth World Series. Lynn was defeated 8-2 by Torrance, California, Wednesday at VA Credit Union Field.
The loss drops Lynn to the second seed in the American Division and will finalize its pool play record at 3-1. Now Lynn must win three games in a row to win the World Series, instead of two if they had won.
In what was an uncharacteristic performance, Lynn allowed seven hits and committed six errors while only mustering three hits of its own.
“We just had a bad day — you cannot spot a team like that; three runs in the second inning. We made it 5-2, and we had a chance there to cut it to 5-4 — if we get it to 5-4, it is a totally different game, and that just did not happen,” said Lynn Manager Leon Elwell.
From the very beginning of the game, it became increasingly clear that Wednesday was just not Lynn’s day. While Torrance did not score with its first at-bats, an error put the pressure on starting pitcher Matt Lewis.
Ryusaku Uchida reached first with one out on a ground ball to second that was errantly thrown. Uchida advanced to second and third on wild pitches, but with two outs, Lewis got Anthony Macias to pop out to end the inning.
While Lynn’s bats were quiet, Torrance was able to strike first in the top of the second. After an excellent jumping catch by left fielder Alex Lara, Lewis walked Torrance’s starting pitcher Dane Rhodes, and Torrance was in business.
Rhodes stole second after Lewis forced Jacob Narez to pop out to get the second out of the inning. However, with two outs, Torrance finally struck with an RBI single to left field by Eshua Desai, giving Torrance a 1-0 lead.
On Desai’s contact, the ball rolled by the left fielder allowing him to advance to third. The next batter, River Martinez, was hit by a pitch and eventually stole second on a Kyle Cummings throwing error which also allowed Desai to score, making the game 2-0.
Up two, the damage did not stop there as Joseph Villareal hit an RBI single before Lewis could get out of the inning, stretching Torrance’s lead to 3-0.
After a tough top half of the second, Lynn looked to respond straight away in the bottom half of the inning. Jared Paone led off the inning by getting hit with a pitch, while Lewis helped himself out by moving Paone over with a sacrifice bunt.
Shea Newhall, who has been on fire, hit a single to get runners on the corners, and Christian Figueroa reached base on a ground ball that was misplayed by the second baseman to load the bases.
It finally looked like Lynn was gaining some momentum, but almost immediately, Rhodes got out of the inning, forcing Lara to ground out into a double play.
As the game went on, the lead grew for Torrance as they put up another two runs in the top of the third behind an RBI bunt single by Rhodes, who eventually rounded the bases, stealing second and third and then scoring on an error to make the game 5-0.
The game stayed relatively quiet until the bottom of the fourth, when Lynn finally got on the board. Three walks loaded the bases, and who else but Newhall hit an RBI single to knock in a run. Figueroa followed that up with a sacrifice ground out to make the game 5-2 before the end of the inning.
Unfortunately for Lynn, Torrance immediately wiped out the momentum it gained in the top of the fifth.
Another RBI bunt single, this time by Slater Nunez, an RBI single from Rhodes, and a hit batter with the bases loaded made Lynn’s deficit six at a score of 8-2.
Lynn could not muster any heroics for the remainder of the game and eventually fell by a final score of 8-2.
With ace Josh Doney penciled in to start Thursday with no restrictions, Elwell says he is confident his team can bounce back.
“I do not think anybody is worried. Today was not a must-win game for us — obviously, we did not play well, but we cannot dwell on it. We got Doney on the mound tomorrow, so I am pretty confident that we will be fine,” said Elwell.
The loss means Lynn now has a date with the third seed in the National Division. First pitch is slated for Thursday at 4 p.m. in what will be a win or go-home matchup to continue at the World Series.
“Tomorrow, we are just going to keep on doing the same thing — one inning at a time, one pitch at a time, and we will see what happens at the end of the game. We are better than we played today, and we need to go out and prove that tomorrow,” said Elwell.
